The Wolf Of Wall Street

UK Release Date. 17 January 2014
Certification. 18
Running Time. 3 hours
Director. Martin Scorsese
Cast. Kyle Chandler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Rob Reiner, Margot Robbie.
Rating. 80%

Review.

The Wolf Of Wall Street saw Martin Scorsese direct Leonardo DiCaprio for a fifth time [following Gangs Of New York, The Aviator, The Departed and Shutter Island]. The collaboration resulted in DiCaprio garnering a third Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a leading role [following nominations for his performances in The Aviator and Blood Diamond].

Initially, it proves difficult to escape a feeling of familiarity with The Wolf Of Wall Street as Scorsese revisits one of his favourite themes - corruption, and particularly people's eagerness to embrace illegality in order to attain the spoils of The American Dream. But there is more ambiguity in The Wolf Of Wall Street than say, Goodfellas or Casino.

DiCaprio excels as the real-life stockbroker Jordan Belfort, whose underhanded and fraudulent practices made him a small fortune which he spent on a decadent lifestyle of sex and drugs. DiCaprio inhabits a truly amoral and deplorable character, yet his performance is mesmerising - manic and increasingly unhinged. Beguiling, with a charisma reminiscent of Jack Nicholson in his prime. DiCaprio portrays Belfort as a soulless cretin utterly devoid of scruples, introspection or attrition. This is no troubled or tormented soul - Belfort might be overcompensating for some traumatic incident from his past, but the DiCaprio never reveals what that might be, consciously eschewing any empathy for the character. 

Because The Wolf Of Wall Street is inherently Jordan Belfort's story, the supporting cast are rarely given space to really stand out. Jonah Hill steals a few scenes as Belfort's insalubrious business partner, Donnie Azoff with some wonderfully spontaneous dialogue. But it is Margot Robbie, in a breakthrough role, who elevates a woefully underwritten part as Belfort's second wife far beyond the pages of the script. Robbie brings sass, portraying Naomi Lapaglia not as a victim, but rather a street-smart pragmatist who sees clearly how compromised the marriage was from the start. 

Comparisons with Goodfellas are almost inevitable. Both films are based on real people who serve as the narrator. But where Goodfellas had unambiguous life-or-death stakes because of the violent and ruthless cast of characters at its core, The Wolf Of Wall Street is pure satire, revelling in Belfort's (and his colleagues at Stratton Oakmont) materialistic, shallow, alpha-male hedonism.

With The Wolf Of Wall Street Scorsese delivers a tale of morality, specifically a tale about those who could care less about morality. The film is purposely excessive, bloated and kinetic - it is an exhausting watch [but in a good way]. However, by the time the film is finished spinning through the outlandish tale of lurid excess, it is too dizzy to deliver a cogent or coherent comment.